Maria Malone's Blog

‘Great locations, sharp dialogue, intriguing mystery, plus a charming detective-dog with knowing hazel eyes – a delight.’ Greg Mosse, author of the bestselling Maisie Cooper Mysteries

Published August 14, 2025

Published as Death in the Countryside in the US

Meet Sergeant Ali Wren and her trusty companion Officer Police Dog Wilson, a springer spaniel with a nose for trouble. Together they serve the small Yorkshire town of Heft, where everyone knows everyone else’s business. And if they don’t, that’s a cause for concern…

Ali, who has just returned home to Heft, needs all her diplomatic skills, not to mention a huge sense of humour, to navigate the requirements of her job. Drama lurks around every corner, from rogue parking in the disabled bays to a feud between the long-established Hooley bakery and a fancy new ‘cakery-bakery’. When Brian Bright reports his wife Melody missing, at first Ali thinks it’s just another routine case. The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that Melody has simply left, tired of playing a supporting role to Brian’s obsession with classic cars and his first (dead) wife.

But something niggles. When Ali and Wilson doggedly continue their investigation, they find there was more to Melody than anyone realised – and more to her disappearance too…

“Maria Malone is a very clever lady, a great collaborator and an excellent writer.
She is funny, sensitive and smart and it has always been a huge pleasure to work with her.”

Andy Harries, Left Bank Pictures
Read more testimonials…

In the late 90s Maria developed one of the first reality TV series, Wildtrack. Set in the South African bush and narrated by James Nesbitt, the series aired on CITV in the UK. Since then her passion for reality TV and popular culture has been at the heart of her work.

As a former senior producer and writer at ITV, Maria has extensive experience developing content for TV tie-ins. She is the author of Popstars: The Making of Hear’say (Sunday Times bestseller). DVD credits include Ant and Dec, Prime Suspect, Poirot, Henry VIII and Dr Zhivago.

Maria Malone is an experienced ghostwriter and non-fiction author with several Sunday Times bestseller credits, ranging from high-profile memoirs to celebrity fiction. She has worked with Cheryl Cole, Girls Aloud and Tony Hadley among others.
See all books…

Little Face … chilling, compelling, original.

‘Lies were lethal, however honourable the intentions of the liar. They deprived people of the opportunity to know the basic facts of their own lives.’

Little Face, Sophie Hannah

The perfect heartwarming wartime saga.
June 1941, and the women of Great Paxford WI are doing what they can to help the war effort while, behind closed doors, each is fighting a more personal battle. Pat Simms, haunted by her part in the death of her abusive husband, finds the prospect of her new life daunting, while Sarah Collingborne is desperate for news of her husband, held captive in a POW camp. For Teresa Lucas, motherhood feels terrifying. And for her friend, Alison Scotlock, a new relationship beckons. As the village grieves for lives already lost and feels a weight of anxiety for those still away fighting, the women must rely on each other.  
 
The final book in the Home Fires trilogy, a companion to Keep the Home Fires Burning and A Woman’s War.
 
Publisher: Zaffre
ISBN: 978-1-78576-567-4
Type of book: Fiction

Nine Perfect Strangers … perfect in every way.

‘You never changed your appearance for men, you changed it for other women, because they were the ones carefully tracking each other’s weight and skin tone, along with their own, they were the ones trapped with you on the ridiculous appearance obsession merry-go-round that they couldn’t or wouldn’t get off.’

Nine Perfect Strangers, Liane Moriarty

A.J. Finn – utterly extraordinary.

‘Space had opened up beside us, beneath us, a vast chasm gutted from the land below, a huge bowl of nothing; thatched evergreens at the bottom of the void, rags of mist caught in midair.’

The woman in the window, A.J. Finn

Nicci French – gripping, dark and twisty …

‘No one is like anyone else. No one can be replaced. Every death is the end of a world. And they’re gone, and yet they remain.’

Day of the Dead, Nicci French